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Glynn Johnson, former L.A. County fire official, found guilty of animal cruelty in beating of neighbor's dog

January 26, 2010 | 8:35
pm

Former Los Angeles County assistant fire chief Glynn Johnson, 55, was found guilty of felony animal cruelty and using a deadly weapon in Riverside County Superior Court today in the 2008 beating of his neighbor's puppy.

The animal, a 6-month-old German shepherd mix named Karley, sustained injuries so severe that she had to be euthanized after the beating. Johnson hit her repeatedly with a 12-pound rock in what he described as an act of self-defense; according to his version of events, Karley viciously attacked him before the beating occurred. Our colleagues at KTLA report on the defense's strategy:

During his opening statements last Tuesday, Deputy District Attorney Will Robinson said [Johnson] put dog feces in his neighbors' mailbox with a letter warning them to keep their dogs off his property.

The Tooles are the "neighbors from hell" who routinely take in stray animals and then don't take care of them, giving them the run of the community, defense attorneys argued. And the Tooles tried to domesticate a stray named Karley, unsuccessfully, the defense added.